The Aneng AN113D is a £10 (~$13) multimeter available from your favourite budget Chinese retailers, Aliexpress and Banggood. We managed to get ours shipped from a UK warehouse, for free, in a couple of days – a record for these sites. So how much multimeter can £10 give you? Read on to find out!
The AN113D is available from (prices at time of writing):
- Banggood (Referral Link) £11.64
- AliExpress £11.79
What’s in the “box”?
The multimeter was shipped to us in a bubble wrapped bag which included:
- AN113D Multimeter
- 1 pair of probes
- A thermocouple
- An oversized sunglasses bag
Notable emissions from the kit includes batteries, you will need to install two AAAs found in a compartment under the kick stand.
Who is this for?
At this price point, we reckon that this multimeter is targeted at people who occasionally need a multimeter. We would use this multimeter for those times you need to board-level troubleshoot your projects. If you plan to use this multimeter for more frequent use then we would advise spending a little more money on a more durable multimeter.
Features
The AN113D has pretty much all the features you need from a basic multimeter. It has the standard voltage, current and resistance measurements, all with auto-ranging functionality. The continuity checking function is accessed through selecting the resistance measurement function then pressing the SEL button. The buzzers is sounds like something is dying inside with multimeter but is completely fine once you get over that. There is also a HOLD/REL button for freezing a measured value on the screen.
There aren’t really any obvious omissions from the feature list. It would have been nice to have some more functions “broken out” to the dial rather than the selection button. For example, the resistance measurement and the continuity checker could be on separate physical locations on the dial.
It also adds thermocouple support (with one supplied in the box) which is a welcome feature at this price point. The thermocouple is very quick to get set-up and could be used in a pinch. No specifications of the thermocouple are provided however, which makes its accuracy and temperature limits somewhat unknown.
The supplied probes feel very cheap. Whilst they work perfectly fine, we would hesitate putting them anywhere near mains voltage. The lack of voltage isolation markings on the probes doesn’t exactly instil trust. We recommend swapping out these leads if you are going to do any high voltage work – just to be safe.
Build (& Build Quality)
The main material used on the AN113D is hard plastic with no rubber grips. The built-in kick stand has a plastic stand and will likely be the first thing to break on this device. The display is bright enough and the text is easy to read. The selection dial is remarkably solid with good clicks between choices and little play.
With dimensions of 130 x 65 x 32mm and 114g (without batteries), the AN113D is certainly pocketable. It will have no problem fitting on your desk or in that draw where you put everything – that’s not just us with many of those draws right?
At this price point, the build quality is perfectly adequate.
Summary
If you are in the market for a cheap but useable multimeter for occasional use, the £10 ANENG AN113D is a no brainer. As long as you don’t expect Fluke-like quality, durability and warranty then you will most likely be happy with the AN113D. However, if you plan to use your multimeter regularly then the AN113D might not hold up in the long run and you should consider upping your budget slightly.
The AN113D is available from (prices at time of writing):
- Banggood (Referral Link) £11.64
- AliExpress £11.79
Let us know what you think down in the comments!